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Zuma Said He Won’t Let Sudan President Omar al-Bashir Arrested, Says Mugabe
President Jacob Zuma gave the African Union summit assurances that Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir would not be arrested, Zimbabwe’s president Robert Mugabe has said.
Responding to questions by journalists following the close of the AU summit in Sandton just before midnight on Monday, Mugabe said because Bashir was a wanted man, NGOs were going to court to try force his arrest.
Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“This is not the headquarters of the ICC and we do not want it in this region at all,” Mugabe said.
“There is a view that we must distance ourselves from the ICC, but unfortunately the treaty that set it up was done not by the AU, but by individual countries. But those who signed the treaty are now regretting. We didn’t sign it as Zimbabwe. We won’t subject ourselves to justice outside our country’s borders,” he said.
He said NGOs were used by outsiders to go to court to force government to arrest Bashir, “because he is a wanted man by the ICC”.
Mugabe said in court “not all judges think like we do”, and they might dislike “freedom fighters” or the way things are done in a certain country, he said.
Summit ‘no different to others’
AU Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma was a little less outspoken, saying the AU had nothing to say about Bashir’s attendance because it was within his rights to do so.
“This summit here is no different from any other AU summit. This is not a bilateral meeting, it is a multilateral organisation and when a country hosts it, it does so according to the rules of the AU and not according to the rules of the countries,” she said.
Dlamini-Zuma said various host countries signed agreements with the AU on the hosting of the summit. “This venue up to now,” she said with reference to the Sandton Convention Centre where the conference was held, “is an AU venue, it is not a South African venue,” she said.
“It may be located on the geographical space of South Africa, but is an AU venue.”
She added that the AU could not have “any real relationship” with the ICC because it wasn’t a state but a continental body.
Bashir on Monday slipped out of the country despite a court ordering that he should stay until the case by civil society about his arrest was heard. He left while these court proceedings were still in progress.
Posted by
Andy
June 17, 2015 at 11:57 am
Okay
MB
June 20, 2015 at 7:32 am
Andy, You just want your lousy name to be printed! Ok!
son of a Gunman
June 17, 2015 at 12:51 pm
This is what I will term Africa Union for sure,so is Abashire sneaking out of the summit a solution?Come rain sunshine,the ICC will maintain their stance and with its consistency hunting,they will get him.Sometimes what. Seem to be good for a shorttime may not seem to be good for alongtime,cause if they catch him he will rot in jail.
mj banda
June 17, 2015 at 1:18 pm
I hate this ICC, it’s up to shit, arrest Bush first before coming to Africa. Viva Zuma and Africa.
T.K
June 17, 2015 at 2:08 pm
ICC what is it for?For Africans or Europeans.Let them arrest Bush.It is very shameful for ICC to being doing that.Last the so called ICC wanted to put pressure on Zambia to arrest Bush when he visited our Country.ICC have all the facilities at the Airports.Why did they not effected arrests on connection flights from any Country?
The spartacus
June 17, 2015 at 8:53 pm
They found sadam husein, gadafi who do u think u ar to kill enocent people en go Scot free they ll soon be on yo neck boi. Mugabe is a dictator who needs to be cropped out too..
poly
June 18, 2015 at 10:35 am
Can you tell the Air Commander to prepare Watercloff Airbase for the landing and taking-off of Air Sudan………………..you all know who was being whisked out.
JSM
June 18, 2015 at 10:51 am
This is neo colonialism. Let’s chase them completely from Africa. They started a long ago troubling us.
GLOBAL
June 18, 2015 at 12:53 pm
It seems this ICC is just there to arrest presidents from Africa. This ICC must be told that we have competent courts of law to handle cases of this nature. All presidents of America past and present have been committing a lot of atrocities and and this ICC does nothing, to hell to them
PATO
June 18, 2015 at 3:02 pm
Israel killed many pipo in palestine,this so called ICC is mute about it.
musakanya Lawrence
June 18, 2015 at 7:43 pm
ICC is not independent
Broken Hillo Man
June 20, 2015 at 10:36 am
Friends limit your bad comments on African leaders like Mugabe. If only you knew the whole truth why they behave so strange in eyes of those with no knowing the truth, you be on your knees pleading. ICC is neo-colonialism guys be careful.